Confession

[NKR1978]

This is hard to admit, but I realized over the last few years that I don't hate Duke. Sure I cheered for Lehigh the way everyone cheers for the huge upset...but nowhere near that glorious FGCU game. Can't even hate them for Paulus because like many SU fans I have an uncontrollable urge to buy orange tshirts and I'm positive that "Devil wears Orange" shirt is in a drawer somewhere never to be worn again. I blame JB for this. I blame Ratface K for that incredibly classy video he made for JB's 900th win. I also blame Butler because those body slamming s actually had me actively rooting for Duke in the 2010 championship game. While I didn't watch the game I wanted them to win and was glad Butler lost in such heartbreaking fashion.

I also remember their S board had like a 20+ page thread about 6OT. And remember, we both share a hatred for UConn. And while their S board is a bit too cool for school with respect to not understanding why SU and our fans are pumped for this game, their dukebasketballreport forum is a pretty great read. They seem excited about the game and get why it is a big deal. We will never be UNC to them and they might never be GeorgeConn to us, but they understand why this will be special for at least as long as JB and K are coaching against each other.

Our programs are kind of mirrors of each other. The Dome and Cameron could not be more different but each offer a completely unique and awesome experience and are in my opinion the two best venues in college basketball. We each have national fan bases for different reasons. Their casual fan base is bigger, but I feel ours is more passionate due to the dispersement of CNYers around the country. We're also two private schools competing at the absolute highest levels and thanks to legendary coaches are both synonymous with college basketball.

Here's to a great game and the beginning of respectful rivalry on both sides. Go Orange!

 

[SUfaninAZ]

You make some good points... But I'll still dislike them.

 

[OrangeYaGladi]

I have always respected Duke and thought the national hatred is silly.

Still hope 'Cuse wins by 30 on Saturday.

Pitt

 

[DeGrozz]

I don't really hate Duke either -- I'll root against them because I almost always root for the underdog when I don't have a rooting interest. I would say I dislike UNC a lot more than them. But for all the teams in the ACC, there's no real reason to hate them like we do our old BEast rivals.

My bigger confession is that I don't hate K. In fact, I like him (please don't drop the ban hammer, admins). Not only is he a great coach, but after seeing him speak in person, I was amazed at how funny and charismatic he is. Plus, he tells one hell of a story, if you ever get to hear him at an event.

The game this weekend is kinda like a rebound girl. We don't have Georgetown, we don't even have , and Pitt was the least exciting of the old big name BEast matchups. For the big games this year, that leaves a very mediocre UNC team that we had already given a recent beat-down to, and ESPN's golden child to get really excited for in conference play. ESPN and the SUAD decided Duke was the game to hype up; and it's probably the right call, we're new here and that's exciting, so we have to capitalize on that. We'll get really pumped up when the game's here, scream, shout, and party when it's over. Deep down though, we'll know in our heart of hearts that we really wish we were curb-stomping the Hoyas again...

 

[bevosu]

Wait until we play them a few times and G forbid they actually beat us. If they maintain the quality of their program (and we do) and they become a rival for ACC dominance ..best league record...ACC tourney...high NCAA tourney seed...and weekly poll rankings, you just might learn to hate them again.....Just like UConn, Georgetown, Pitt, and for some, Louisville.

K or no K. That seems to be the nature of fandom.

Edit: I don't like the term hate. In sports I prefer to have a strong dislike for a rival or a particularly unsavory coach. But sports fans use hate in a reverse euphemistic sense...substituting a blunt term for a more diplomatic alternative . To each their own.

 

[cto]

I respect Duke as an academic institution, and I respect K as a coach and as a human being. JB is a pretty good judge of character, and K is his best friend in the coaching fraternity. And I will always appreciate K vehemently sticking up for JB during the worst part of the Bernie Fine situation... when every talking head in America (and not a small percentage of people on this forum) were calling for JB's head and predicting it would be the end of his career.

Given all that, I will be screaming my lungs out for SU at the Dome on Saturday.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

I don't hate Duke nearly as much as I hate all the Duke bandwagon fans I know. I was in Philly last year when they played Albany in the first round, and the guy sitting next to me in a Duke jersey couldn't name the city in NC that Duke resides in. Obviously an extreme example, but still cracked me up. I have the utmost respect for Coach K and the way he has run that program, but I want to win on Saturday so bad. Go Orange!

 

[Cowtown]

A few things: Duke is certainly the most beautiful campus I've visited, and academically it's a a wonderful school. Cameron is an absolute shrine. While I'm a dedicated SU fan until a decade after I'm gone, I'd have loved to go to school there. Seriously.

I have much respect and admiration for Coach K. There's a reason he and JB are tight. I believe he's worked hard to take a solid national program and make it elite. He deserves every one of his NC's, especially the year they beat UNLV. I don't cheer for them very often, and yes, like everyone else here I was as pumped when Lehigh and CJ McCollum did a number on them. And while it was exciting as hell, I also remember we've been on that side of that coin.

A digression: Don't be too hard on Butler. What they accomplished under Brad Stevens in a school of 4,000 students was stunning. And it had nothing to with who they played, and everything to do with how. And if you'll look a little more closely, you'll see some parallels between those teams and us. We just have better finishers. Again, seriously.

I do, however, detest how ESPN gurgle and slobber all over Duke. It seems they think the sun doesn't shine on college hoops until Duke gets up. ESPN, although I don't blame Duke for their asinine behavior. And as for "Duke Vitale," he loves whoever is playing in the game he's covering. He just loves college ball (don't we all?). Annoying, certainly, but there are worse people in the game: "Take Billy Packer, ... please."

We've too much history with Gtown and UGoon for Duke to ever become as hated as them, but this can be the start of a terrific rivalry on a different level, tempered by the mutual respect between K & JB. So don't feel badly about not hating Duke, I sure don't.

And with all that being said, LGO!! Hell yes, run 'em right back out to Hancock!!

 

[Entropic]

Nope I hate Duke and always have. I put them in with Kentucky, UNC and Ohio State for schools I hate irrationally.

 

[thebigeast44]

I agree with the main tone of this thread. I used to hate Duke with a passion - those students popping up and down at the Cameron Center... - of course hate simply meaning passionately rooting against them.

But as others have stated, JB's relationship with Coach K has tempered my feelings over the years. It's tough not to have respect for him and the program he has built.

As cto stated though, I'll be rooting my butt off for us to kill them on Saturday. And if one of the Blue Devils were to commit a flagrant foul against us and we get a new Michael Graham to hate, I'd be OK with that - as long as no one was really hurt of course. Anything that could make this a passionate rivalry is a good thing. LGO!

 

[jvbj01]

You make some good points... But I'll still dislike them.

I like the word dislike much better than hate. I don't know of anything that I hate.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

A few things: Duke is certainly the most beautiful campus I've visited, and academically it's a a wonderful school. Cameron is an absolute shrine. While I'm a dedicated SU fan until a decade after I'm gone, I'd have loved to go to school there. Seriously.

Agreed mooman with your whole post, but wanted to call out the part above especially. If my son comes home and tells me he's been accepted to Duke on a free ride for academics, lax, or whatever, I'm going to be one proud papa.

 

[tee1222]

You make some good points... But I'll still dislike them.

SUfaninAZ
Word?

 

[bballbeadle]

My hubby was at Duke for 12 years. I like them. I desperately want to beat them. Over and out.

 

[edowd26]

You people are crazy. Be hate filled... like me.

 

[sabach]

In the sports sense of the word, I will never "hate" another basketball program as much as I hate Georgetown. The fact that we don't have the opportunity to beat the crap out of them this year still bugs me. Beating Duke, UNC, and whoever our rivals become in the ACC will not change that. IMO we will never have a rivalry that matches SU-Hoyas.

 

[thebigeast44]

In the sports sense of the word, I will never "hate" another basketball program as much as I hate Georgetown. The fact that we don't have the opportunity to beat the crap out of them this year still bugs me. Beating Duke, UNC, and whoever our rivals become in the ACC will not change that. IMO we will never have a rivalry that matches SU-Hoyas.

For many, the UCONN rivalry superceded the Georgetown rivalry in later years of the Big East. Georgetown had a down period after Big John left and the rivalry lost its luster. It was on the level of Duke/North Carolina for many years. It began to heat up again the last couple of years. I hope Georgetown signs that long term deal with Syracuse soon.

 

[CorduroyG]

theyre just annoying. coach k has an annoying looking face. they usually have annoying players, although this year is one of their more likeable teams. their flopping is annoying. their floor slaps are annoying. the cameron crazies are annoying. wojo and chris collins are annoying. just something about duke that attracts annoying players/coaches/antics. ive never found north carolina annoying. or kansas. or kentucky. but everything about duke is annoying.

em

 

[orangejunkie]

Don't understand all the hatred and dislike of Duke. If I lived in Carolina and was a tar heel fan I could understand it. There is no love lost between those schools. Coach K was more than gracious to allow Gbinije to transfer to SU. After having seen Gbinije this year I can see why though. Not the impact guy I thought he would be.

 

[ClamOtto]

I will always root against Duke unless there is a clear benefit to SU for them to win a particular game. That said, since we're confessing, Duke as an institution is what I would like SU to become: a relatively small private university that has both world class academics/research AND a deep commitment to athletic excellence. Honestly I don't think we're that far off, but in my ideal world we'd be in the small group of Dukes and Stanfords.

 

[texascpa]

Nope I hate Duke and always have. I put them in with Kentucky, UNC and Ohio State for schools I hate irrationally.

And Georgetown, UConn and Notre Dame as schools hated rationally.

 

[OrangeSky]

This is hard to admit, but I realized over the last few years that I don't hate Duke. Sure I cheered for Lehigh the way everyone cheers for the huge upset...but nowhere near that glorious FGCU game. Can't even hate them for Paulus because like many SU fans I have an uncontrollable urge to buy orange tshirts and I'm positive that "Devil wears Orange" shirt is in a drawer somewhere never to be worn again. I blame JB for this. I blame Ratface K for that incredibly classy video he made for JB's 900th win. I also blame Butler because those body slamming s actually had me actively rooting for Duke in the 2010 championship game. While I didn't watch the game I wanted them to win and was glad Butler lost in such heartbreaking fashion.

I also remember their S board had like a 20+ page thread about 6OT. And remember, we both share a hatred for UConn. And while their S board is a bit too cool for school with respect to not understanding why SU and our fans are pumped for this game, their dukebasketballreport forum is a pretty great read. They seem excited about the game and get why it is a big deal. We will never be UNC to them and they might never be GeorgeConn to us, but they understand why this will be special for at least as long as JB and K are coaching against each other.

Our programs are kind of mirrors of each other. The Dome and Cameron could not be more different but each offer a completely unique and awesome experience and are in my opinion the two best venues in college basketball. We each have national fan bases for different reasons. Their casual fan base is bigger, but I feel ours is more passionate due to the dispersement of CNYers around the country. We're also two private schools competing at the absolute highest levels and thanks to legendary coaches are both synonymous with college basketball.

Here's to a great game and the beginning of respectful rivalry on both sides. Go Orange!

I get what you're saying, but am wondering if you were drinking when you wrote it...

 

[BuffOrange]

theyre just annoying. coach k has an annoying looking face. they usually have annoying players, although this year is one of their more likeable teams. their flopping is annoying. their floor slaps are annoying. the cameron crazies are annoying. wojo and chris collins are annoying. just something about duke that attracts annoying players/coaches/antics. ive never found north carolina annoying. or kansas. or kentucky. but everything about duke is annoying.

em

Pretty much this.

Sure, you can get into semantics of why we shouldn't hate them. "K does X, but so does every other coach" or whatever. I don't know, since when is sports team hatred based on sound logical reasoning? I'd say John Thompson telling the DC drug kingpin/murderer to Adios is pretty damn admirable. But his players in the 80s were just annoying, as are K's generally (although I agree there aren't as many hate-worthy things about their team this year). At least Duke ranks higher than 11th on the totem pole for things NC locals care about, unlike G'town in DC, which to me makes it's easier to hate a team that actually has fans.
Plus AO's injury gave them their '10 title.
And while most of the stuff in that "Duke sucks" book may just be pointless propaganda, I do think the petitioning of the ncaa to not have those '95 losses count on K's record is pretty freaking lame. What exactly is the pro-Duke/K defense of that anyway?

 

[85SUAlum]

For many, the UCONN rivalry superceded the Georgetown rivalry in later years of the Big East. Georgetown had a down period after Big John left and the rivalry lost its luster. It was on the level of Duke/North Carolina for many years. It began to heat up again the last couple of years. I hope Georgetown signs that long term deal with Syracuse soon.

I would agree with this - my dislike of the Hoyas softened over the years because they became so much more mediocre after Big John left and became a bigger bunch of .
Although Big John did all he could in our final regular season game against G-town to get things started again.

Like many others here - I've never liked Duke and never will and will always root for them to lose (unless a Duke win is good for us). Same for UNC. It's just always bugged me how they seem to be pre-anointed every season.
Still, for now, my level of dislike of Duke and UNC still has not risen to the level of my dislike for UConn - but we'll see how things play out over the next few years in the ACC.

 

[Garbs]

TLDR

Duke!!